Web accumulator



29, 1957 J. M. STEARNS WEB ACCUMULATOR Filed Aug. 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG! INVENTOR STEARNS M N H O J ATTORNEYS Aug. 29, 1967 Filed Aug. 26, 1965 J. M. STEARNS WEB ACCUMULATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JOHN M. STEARNS 44 M,0mk* 0R1;

ATTORNEYS 29, 1967 J. M. STEARNS I 3,338,494

' WEB ACCUMULATOR Filed Aug. 26, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet LE INVENTOR JOHN M. STEARNS WM, amh @015 ATTORNEYS Aug. 29, 1967 J. M. STEAR'NS WEB AGCUMULATOR 4 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed Aug. 26. 1965 FIG; 9

HQ 7 INVENTOR JOHN M. STEARNS ATTORNEYS United States Patent chusetts Filed Aug. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 482,808 8 Claims. (Cl..226-118) This invention relates generally to web handling equipment and more particularly is directed towards improvements in accumulators of the sort employed for the continuous processing of cloth.

In the manufacture of many types of textiles, it is necessary at certain stages to accumulate the fabric for a specified period of time. For example, fabric may be bleached on a continuous 'basis by chemically treating it and maintaining a section of it within an enclosure for a specified period during which it may be exposed to a steam atmosphere. The cloth is retained within the enclosure long enough for the chemicals to react.

In the textile finishing industries, accumulators have been emproyed for this purpose for a number of years. One of the most popular types of accumulators is known as the I-Box which is a J-shaped housing providing an enclosure for fabric which is fed in and sometimes folded to form a vertical stack or pile, either as roped cloth or in the open width form in the higher leg of the housing. The stack moves under its own weight down through the housing and is drawn off through the shorter leg of the J-Box.

While the I-Box for open width fabric has been used for many years, it has certain limitations with the primary one being limited capacity. It has been found from experience that the maximum amount of cloth that can be piled upon itself without damaging the fabric is approximately 400 lbs. If the limit of 400 lbs. is exceeded, many fabrics, particularly those of a delicate nature and/ or having manmade fibre content form creases or scuff marks which become pronounced should the cloth subsequently be dyed. Insofar as the present J-Boxes have limited capacities, the chemical reaction cycle must be shortened in order to maintain a reasonable production speed. This involves increasing the strength of the chemicals which, of course, adds to production costs.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improvements in accumulators for running lengths of textile materials.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for increasing the capacity of a J-Box style accumulator without harmful results to the fabric being processed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an accumulator which is readily adjustable to fabrics of various Widths.

A still further object of this invention is to provide improved means for uniformly and simultaneously tensioning a pair of cooperating conveyor chains.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide im proved. means for feeding cloth into a vertical chute or stack.

More particularly this invention features an accumulator for use in treating running lengths of open width textile materials, comprising a housing defining a vertical chamber in which incoming cloth is fed or dropped into a vertical pile. The housing also includes a horizontal portion in which is mounted a conveyor system adapted to carry the lower portion of the pile at a predetermined speed towards the discharge end of the housing. The discharge end of the conveyor is vertically oriented so that the fabric is removed from the pile in substantially the same manner in which it was delivered. The linear speed of the conveyor is adjusted to coincide with the linear speed of the accumulated cloth fed into the housing and in this fashion the weight of the stack will not exceed prescribed limits and yet the total capacity of the unit is greatly increased by reason of the conveyor supporting the load.

Another feature of this invention resides in an adjustable chute which is readily set to the width of the cloth being processed in order to support properly the stacked material. The chute comprises a pair of opposing guides supported for movement to or away from one another by means of drivingly connected double-threaded lead screws.

The invention also features a system for tensioning simultaneously a pair of separate cooperating chains, comprising a pair of sprockets each engaging an associated chain. Each pulley is connected by an arm to a common shaft, the axis of which is parallel to the pulley axes and which is angularly adjustable about its axis for applying tension to the belts. One of the arms supporting one of the pulleys is angularly adjustable within certain limits to compensate for differences in lengths of the two chains.

However, these and other features of the invention, along with further objects and advantages thereof, will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG.1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of an accumulator made according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the web feed assembly,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front'elevation, partly broken away showing details of the adjustable guide chute assembly,

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation corresponding to FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a detail side view showing details of the temperature sensing bulb mounting assembly,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detail side view on an enlar-ged scale showing the guide feed assembly,

FIG. 8 is a detail side view of a conveyor chain adjusting assembly, and,

FIG. 9 is a-front elevation thereof.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an accumulator in the form of a modified J-Box and comprising a housing 10 typically 6 feet or so in Width and about 19 or so feet high. The housing 10 includes a lower mid-section 14 about 5 /2 feet high and a discharge section 16 about 7 /2 feet high. Disposed within the housing 10 and extending from the base of the stack 12 through the mid-section 14 into the discharge section 16 is a conveyor system 18. In general, the apparatus is adapted to accumulate a moving web 20 of cloth or the like which is fed into the housing near the bottom of the stack 12, is carried up to the top thereof and dropped down or folded to form a vertical pile 22 in the stack 12. The pile of folded cloth is guided from the stack onto the moving conveyor 18 by means of a curved guide 24. The conveyor 18 carries the pile horizontally along through the housing at a speed adjusted to coincide with the exact linear speed of the accumulated cloth pile being deposited on it. The pile is carried along towards the discharge section 16 where it is inclined upwardly to a nearly vertical position. The web is then drawn off from the pile through a discharge opening 26 with the pile being in a position similar to that in which the cloth was first piled. This allows the cloth to be pulled off the top of the pile rather than from underneath it. With a conventional J-Box employing a stationary sur face for the cloth pile, the friction of the pile moving over the fixed surface causes the lower portion of the pile to advance more slowly than upper portion. This causes a part of each fold to be caught under the pile so that the cloth must be pulled forcibly from the pile at the point of delivery with frequent distortion and damage to the fabric. By carrying the pile on a conveyor and tilting the discharge end of the pile to a position similar to the start of the pile, the cloth may be drawn from the top of the pile in a free and easy manner.

The apparatus will now be described in detail. The web 20 is fed into the accumulator through the right hand wall of the housing as viewed in FIG. 1 around a roller 30 rotatably mounted near the lower part of the stack 12. The web 20 is then carried to the upper portion of the stack where it is roven over, under and over a set of feed rolls, 32, 34 and 36. These feed rolls deliver the web downwardly into a vertical chute defined by front and rear walls 38 and 40 mounted upright within the stack 12. The web, as it folds back and forth in the chute forms the vertical pile 22. The height of the pile is normally maintained below the top of the chute in order to keep the weight of the pile below a predetermined limit.

In the event that the height of the pile 22 rises too close to the top of the chute, the length of the web hanging down from the roll 36 may not be sufficiently long and heavy to provide a good frictional contact with the roll and as a result the web will not advance properly and may even wrap around one or more of the feed rolls. In order to eliminate this problem, the lower roll 34 has been mounted in a counterbalanced arrangement shown best in FIG. 2. Each end of the roll 34 is suspended from a pulley 42 with a weight 44 providing the counterbalance. It will be understood that with this arrangement, the roller 34, which is free to move up and down within a certain range, will provide a continuous drag on the web to insure that the web is held in good frictional contact against the roller 36. In the event that the pile 22 becomes so high that the natural weight of the cloth strand between the feed roller 36 and the top of the pile may be insufficiently heavy to insure a good frictional contact with the roll 36, the roller 34 will drop downwardly to provide the needed drag.

One other arrangement for insuring a driving contact between the web and the roll 36 is to operate the rollers at different speeds as by V belts and variable diameter pulleys with the roll 36 rotating at a speed greater than the roll 34 and the roll 34 operating faster than the roll 32. This will maintain continuous frictional contact with the web against the roll despite variations in the weight of the olfcoming cloth.

In view of the fact that it is desirable to process webs of various widths through the accumulator, means are provided for adjusting the apparatus quickly and easily to a given width. The main problem in handling webs of different widths is with the vertical portion of the pile 22 within the stack 12. It will be understood that a pile which is not properly supported throughout its entire height may tip over under its own weight thus jamming the machine and causing damage to the cloth.

As shown best in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, there is mounted in the stack 12 an adjustable pile guiding mechanism comprising a pair of side panels 42 and 44 which cooperate with the walls 38 and 40 to form the vertical chute. The guide panels 42 and 44 are supported by a pair of spaced lead screws 46 and 48 at the upper end of the stack and by a single lead screw 56 at the lower end thereof. All of the lead screws are reversely threaded so that one end of the screw has right hand threads and the other end has left hand threads. The panels 42 and 44 engage the lead screws by means of tapped followers 52 and the outer ends of the lead screws are rotatably mounted in bearings 56 supported by the stack 12.

The upper lead screws 46 and 48 are drivingly connected by means of a chain belt 58 looped over spocket gears 60 and 62 mounted on the left hand ends of the lead screws as shown in FIG. 4. In this fashion the two lead screws operate in unison. The right hand end of the lead screw 48 is also provided with a sprocket gear 64 and engages a chain belt 66 drivingly connected to a sprocket gear 68 mounted on the right hand end of the lower lead screw 50. The sprocket 68 is provided with a crank handle whereby rotation of the sprocket 68 will operate the lead screws 46, 48 and 50 in unison moving the guide panels 42 and 44 to or away from one another as desired to adjust the operating width of the guides according to the width of the cloth being processed. While in the illustrated embodiment the guide panels 42 and 44 are shown in use only in the vertical stack section of the unit, they may also be extended so as to run alongside the conveyor 18 should it be necessary or desirable. The arrangement permits a quick and easy adjustment of the apparatus.

In order to provide a ready indication of the position of the guide panels, a scale mechanism 70, best shown in FIG. 4, is provided. This scale mechanism comprises a lead screw 72 rotatably mounted in bearings 74 and 76 and actuated by a sprocket gear 78 in mesh with the chain belt 66. The follower 80 is threaded to the lead screw and is provided with a pointer 82 which moves along behind a scale 84 when the sprocket 68 is operated. The scale 84 is marked off in inches, typically from 36" to 68" this being the normal range of fabric widths. It will thus be understood that an operator may quickly and easily position the guide panels by operating one single handwheel which in turn, rotates the sprocket 68 until the pointer 82 lines up with the desired width indicated on the scale 84.

The pile 22, as previously mentioned, moves down under its own weight through the chute and is guided onto the conveyor 18 by means of the curved guide 24, details of which are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In FIG. 6 there is shown details in construction of a probe mounting assembly wherein a probe such as a temperature bulb 86 is mounted on the back surface of a curved wall 88 forming part of the guide 24. The bulb is held in place by means of studs 90 engaging a plate 92 which bears against the bulb and holds it in against the wall 88. By making such provisions for the mounting of a temperature bulb in this fashion, there is a considerable savings in installation of control units insofar as the retention chamber and the temperature control apparatus may then be shipped separately and the temperature control apparatus may later be easily and quickly installed without the need of a customer cutting into the insulation and cover.

The lower portion of the guide 24 is best shown in FIG. 7 where it will be seen that the wall 88 carries a replaceable curved spring member 94 which serves to guide the pile of cloth smoothly onto a belt 96 which is part of the conveyor 18. The curved spring member 94 typically is fabricated from stainless steel and is coated, at least on its upper surface, with a smooth, tough, high temperature plastic material such as sold under the trademark, Teflon by Du Font and indicated generally by the reference character 97. The Teflon is also provided in an extra thick layer 98 along the under edge of the free end of the spring member 94 whereby a wearing surface is provided. In operation, the weight of the cloth pile will force the curved spring member 94 downwardly so that the free end will ride against the upper reach of the conveyor belt 96 and the cloth pile will move smoothly onto the belt. The Teflon strip 98 serves to ride against the belt, and by reason of its low coefficient of friction provides an excellent wearing surface.

The spring member is mounted on a backing plate 100 which together with the spring member is screwed onto the lower end of the wall 88 and a bracket 102. In this fashion the curved spring member 94 may be quickly and easily replaced should it become worn without the necessity of a major overhaul.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the conveyor 18 comprises three pairs of sprocket gears, 104, 106

and 108 over which is looped a pair of chain belts 110 which are mounted in spaced parallel relation and carry the belt 96 therebetween. Typically the belt comprises a plurality offoraminous articulated plates of stainless steel or the like. The chain belts 110 carry the belt 96 with the cloth pile from the point of deposit at the end of the curved guide 24 horizontally through the mid section 14 to the discharge section 16. Near the end of the travel of the pile, the chain belt follows a curved path which is defined by fixed side guide elements 112 and 114 disposed above and below the chain belts. These guide elements define a curve from the horizontal portion on the conveyor up to the sprocket gear 108 and this curve corresponds generally to the curve defined by the guide 24 at the point of entry onto the conveyor. It will be understood that insofar as the chain belts are power driven it is necessary to provide a curved guiding means to maintain a smooth curve in this area. Guide elements 116 are also provided along the lower reach of the chain belts between the sprockets 104 and 106. I

Insofar as the chain belts are relatively long, it is extremely difficult as a practical matter to fabricatetwo chain belts of identical length. Insofar as the two chain belts 110 operate together, it is necessary that a uniform tension be applied to these chain belts to insure proper tracking of the conveyor.

In FIG. 1 there is shown a tensioning. mechanism comprising a pneumatic or' hydraulic cylinder 118 mounted on the exterior of the housing and having a rod 120 engaging a link 122. The link 122, in turn, is keyed to a shaft 124 rotatably mounted in bearings 126. The shaft 124 extends the width of the housing and carries a pair of arms 128 which support the sprocket gears 126 in spaced parallel relation. It will be understood that by actuating the cylinder 118, the shaft 126 may be rotated to angularly adjust the depending arms 128 in order to provide a desired pressure or tension on the chain belts through the sprocket gears 106 thereby eliminating slack in the conveyor.

Insofar as the two chain belts may be of different lengths, means are provided to compensate for the difference so that the two chain belts may be tensioned simultaneously and to the same extent. According to this invention one of the arms 128 is a simple one-piece member keyed to the shaft 126 and supporting one of the sprockets 106.

The other of the arms, best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, is angularly adjustable about the shaft 126 in order to accommodate differences in lengths of the chain belts. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the adjustable arm comprises a pair of hubs 130 and 132 mounted over the shaft 126 with the hub 130 being keyed to the shaft while the hub 132 is rotatable thereabout. The hub 130 is fixed to an arm member 134 to which is mounted a pair of spaced lugs 136 and 138 with the lug 136 being located below and to the left of the lug 138. The lug 138 is tapped and carries a bolt 140 which in turn carries a lock nut 142. The hub 132, which is held in position by means of a collar 144, carries an arm member 146 suspended in spaced parallel relation to the arm member 134. The arm member 146 is provided with a plate 148 which extends between the lugs 136 and 138 on the arm member 134. The plate 148 is tapped at its lower end to receive a bolt 150 which carries a lock nut 152, as shown in FIG. 8, the left hand end of the bolt 150 bears against the lug 136 while the left hand end of the bolt 140 bears against the plate 148. It will thus be understood that the arm member 146, which carries the sprocket gear 106 (A) may be angularly adjusted about the shaft 126 by manipulation of the bolts 140 and 150. Once the angular setting is obtained so that the same tension is applied to both chain belts, the lock nuts 142 and 152 may be tightened up against the lug 138 and the plate 148 respectively. 7

One of the main advantages of the tensioning system shown in FIGS. 1, 8 and 9 is that the housing may be maintained in an effectively sealed condition insofar as the belts may be adjusted from outside the housing through a rotary seal at the ends of the shaft 126.

The apparatus illustrated and described herein greatly increases the capacity of J-boxes without damage to the cloth. By employing a relatively high stack in which to pile the cloth before placing it on the conveyor, a wellformed pile is obtained to provide optimum processing of the cloth. The importance of a well-formed pile of the proper weight is that much more efiicient processing is obtained. Piles which are too heavy or poorly formed damage the cloth while piles that are too light do not handle properly. In the present apparatus a well-formed pile is obtained and this pile is guided carefully onto the conveyor which carries it smoothly along to the discharge end of the accumulator where it is tilted upwardly and the cloth removed in substantially the same manner as it was delivered without pulling, crushing or creasing the cloth. The pile is carried through smooth wide turns, one at the base of the stack where it is guided onto the conveyor and the other at the discharge end where it is tilted to a nearly vertical position. Both changes of direction are extremely smooth and are on the order of or more so that there is no danger of upsetting the pile but rather the pile is maintained throughout its travel in the Well-formed condition in which it is first formed.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the illustrated embodiment, it will be understood that numerous modifications thereto will appear to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description and accompanying drawings should be taken as illustrative of the invention and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Apparatus for accumulating a section of a running web, comprising (a) a housing,

(b) a conveyor mounted within said housing,

(c) means for guiding the upper reach of said conveyor along a horizontal path from one end of said housing through an upwardly curved path at the opposite end thereof,

((1) walls defining a chute of substantial height at said one end of said housing,

(e) said walls being formed with a curved lower portion terminating at said one end of said conveyor,

(f) a resilient member detachably connected at one end to said walls, the free end of said member being located above said conveyor and adapted to bear against the surface of said conveyor when said pile moves over said member, and,

(g) 'means for delivering said web into the upper end of said chute whereby said web will form a pile which will move down said chute onto said conveyor to be carried therealong to the opposite end thereof and turned upwardly for withdrawal from said conveyor.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a stratum of antifriction material covering at least a pile engaging surface of said member at the conveyor engaging edge thereof.

3. Apparatus for accumulating a section of a running web, comprising (a) a housing,

(b) a conveyor mounted within said housing,

(c) means for guiding the upper reach of said conveyor first along a horizontal path from one end of said housing to the opposite end and there through an upwardly curved path at said opposite end,

(d) walls defining a substantially vertical chute of substantial height at said one end of said housing,

(e) said walls being formed with a curved lower portion terminating at said one end of said conveyor, and,

(f) means for delivering said web into the upper end of 7 said chute whereby said web will form a vertical pile which will move vertically down said chute and curve over said curved lower portion onto said conveyor to be carried horizontally therealong to the opposite end thereof and turned substantially vertically upwards for withdrawal from said conveyor.

4. Apparatus for accumulating a section of a running web, comprising (a) a housing,

(b) a conveyor mounted within said housing and having a horizontal upper reach,

() walls defining a substantially vertical chute of substantial height at one end of said housing above one end of said conveyor,

((1) said walls being formed with a curved lower portion terminating at said one end of said conveyor, (e) means for delivering said web to the upper end of said chute whereby said web will form a vertical pile which will move down said chute and curve over said lower portion onto said conveyor and be carried therealong in a horizontal path to the opposite end thereof,

(f) upwardly curved guide means engaging said conveyor and guiding the upper reach of said conveyor at the opposite end thereof from a horizontal path through an upwardly curved path substantially reverse to the curve of said chute whereby said pile will be carried into a substantially vertical position for said web to be withdrawn from said conveyor.

5. Apparatus for accumulating a section of a running web, comprising (a) a housing,

(b) a conveyor mounted within said housing,

(c) means for guiding the upper reach of said conveyor along a horizontal path from one end of said housing through an upwardly curved path at the opposite end thereof,

(d) walls including sidewalls defining a chute of substantial height at said one end of said housing,

(e) one of said walls including a curved lower portion terminating at one end of said conveyor,

(f) lead screws connecting said sidewalls,

(g) means for turning said lead screws simultaneously for moving said sidewalls in unison to or away from one another,

(h) means for delivering said web into the upper end of said chute whereby said web will form a pile which will move down said chute onto said conveyor to be carried therealong to the opposite end thereof where it will be turned upwardly for withdrawal from said conveyor.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 including visible scale means responsive to movement of said sidewalls for indicating the position thereof.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said conveyor carries said pile through a turn of about and said curved portion of said chute carries said pile through another turn of about 90.

8. Apparatus according to claim 5 including conveyor moving means synchronized to move said conveyor at the same linear speed as the accumulated web pile being placed thereon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 284,323 9/1883 Palmer 226118 2,626,145 1/1953 Sabee 27073 2,825,556 3/1958 Rowe 226--1l8 X M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

R. A. SCHACHER, Assistant Examiner. 

3. APPARATUS FOR ACCUMULATING A SECTION OF A RUNNING WEB, COMPRISING (A) A HOUSING, (B) A CONVEYOR MOUNTED WITHIN SAID HOUSING, (C) MEANS FOR GUIDING THE UPPER REACH OF SAID CONVEYOR FIRST ALONG A HORIZONTAL PATH FROM ONE END OF SAID HOUSING TO THE OPPOSITE END AND THERE THROUGH AN UPWARDLY CURVED PATH AT SAID OPPOSITE END, (D) WALLS DEFINING A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL CHUTE OF SUBSTANTIAL HEIGHT AT SAID ONE END OF SAID HOUSING, (E) SAID WALLS BEING FORMED WITH A CURVED LOWER PORTION TERMINATING AT SAID ONE END OF SAID CONVEYOR, AND, 